The School of Friendship, though only open for a week so far, had been a resounding success. That is, assuming you didn't count the time it was forcibly closed, or that other time when several of its students nearly met their ends in the Everfree Forest. Still, aside from those two very tiny absolute disasters, the place was thriving. Ponies, griffons, dragons and every creature known were gathering there, meeting one another for perhaps the first time, and learning to co-exist in a way that had simply never been possible before now. The classrooms were full, the hallways were abuzz with friendly chatter, and wherever one went, there was a welcoming air of acceptance. In the midst of this, two students were enjoying their daily lunch break; Sandbar and Gallus. The latter was utterly wolfing down his meal, an undisclosed meat of some kind, all while Sandbar seemed to be more thoughtful right now. Gallus, after swallowing a particularly large chunk, looked to him and chuckled.

"Don't worry, it wasn't anycreature you know."

Sandbar turned to him.

"Hm? Oh, it's not that. I've just been thinking about that Neighsay guy."

Gallus rolled his eyes.

"Him again? Come on, Sandy! He's gone! Stop worrying already!"

Sandbar frowned.

"You're new to Equestria, Gallus. So trust me, this kind of stuff tends to come back and bite us a lot of the time."

Gallus snorted.

"Pfft! Whatever! We didn't come here to get stuck in the middle of all that politics and stuff. We came here to eat!"

And eat he did, gnawing on his meat in a manner that clearly didn't suit Sandbars own personal table-manners.

"You know...they did provide knives and forks."

The Griffon chuckled again.

"Where's the fun in that?"

This time, it was Sandbar's turn to roll his eyes.

"Fine."

Having finally finished his meal, Gallus wiped the remnants off his beak before turning to his companion.

"So...what do you think of the school so far?"

Hearing that, the young stallion looked up and around himself. He looked to the other students, to the building itself, and started to smile.

"Well, I know it's still early days, but...I'm liking it so far. Everycreature here has been pretty great to meet. The Professors are all doing good in their jobs and...it's just good here."

Gallus nodded, smiling.

"Yeah...it's been pretty neat."

Then, he looked over to Sandbar, and a mischievous smirk started to grow on him.

"And our new friends? Like Yona and Smolder?"

Sandbar smiled to that.

"Meeting them, and you, has been great, Gallus. I've had a lot of fun with you guys. I never really had that many friends, but...now...I have a whole bunch I couldn’t imagine not having."

Gallus chortled briefly.

"Hehe, glad to be of service then. And the others...they're pretty great, right?"

Sandbar nodded, prompting Gallus to continue.

"They're sweet...nice...good to be around..."

Again, Sandbar nodded, and again, Gallus smirked to him.

"...and they’re pretty cute, right?"

"Yeah, they're definitely..."

The stallion stopped, wide-eyed.

"...wait, what?!"

Gallus shrugged his shoulders.

"What? It's a simple enough question. Our female friends, Ocellus, Silverstream, the rest, they're cute, right?"

Sandbar looked to him, mouth hanging open.

"Wha...you can't talk about them like that!"

Gallus arched an eyebrow.

"What? Why?"

Sandbar looked around, making sure nocreature else was within earshot, before continuing to berate his friend.

"Because...they're our friends! We're supposed to respect them, treat them nicely! Not talk about them behind their backs on how cute we think they are!"

Gallus slapped a claw onto his own forehead, letting out an irritated grunt.

"Oh, great, you're one of those kinds of ponies."

He looked to his friend with a frown.

"Seriously, Sandy, this conversation's gonna be really boring if all you're gonna do is play the knight in shining armour with me."

Sandbar frowned back.

"We're not talking about our friends that way, Gallus. Period."

Gallus sighed.

"Fine..."

Then his smirk returned.

"...but how about those Professors then? Rainbow Dash has a pretty tight fla..."

"NO!!!" Sandbar yelled.

As before, Gallus rolled his eyes.

"Fine, we won't talk about them either!"

He paused for a moment, considering his position.

"How about Princess Celestia then? She was pretty hot, right?"

He then chuckled to himself.

"Get it? Hot? Like the sun she raises?"

Sandbar slapped a hoof to his forehead in a move not dissimilar to Gallus.

"I...just...no, Gallus! Definitely not Celestia! She's, like, Equestria's Mother for goodness' sake!"

Gallus, in response, placed a claw to his chin, pondering that.

"Huh...so she's got the Mom angle too? Huh...sweet."

To that, Sandbar slapped his hooves to his ears, forcing them down.

"Lalalalala! I'm not listening to this! Lalalalalala!"

Gallus, naturally, couldn't help but laugh to that.

"Come on, buddy. We're not demeaning our friends by talking about them this way. It’s, you know, all stuff we like about them. Like how tough Smodler is. That can be attractive, right? Especially to us Griffons. This is just...a harmless chat."

Though clearly suspicious at his friend's sudden shift in tone, Sandbar, after lowering his hooves again, slowly sighed.

"Okay...fine. Since you clearly can't be dissuaded...but we keep it civil, okay? No dirty talk, right?"

Gallus raised one claw, placing the other upon his chest.

"On my honour as a Griffon...no dirty talk."

Sandbar studied him carefully with a raised eyebrow, then slowly nodded.

"Alright...it's settled then."

Then, after once more looking around to see whether there was anycreature close by, he let out another long sigh.

"Well...as long as this stays between us...I suppose...Ocellus is...really nice."

A smile came to him.

"She's just...really sweet. I like being around her."

Gallus nodded, giving his friend a warm smile.

"Ocellus, eh? Yeah, I can definitely see that."

Then, inevitably, that same old look of mischievousness returned to him.

"So...pretty interesting that the female you'd choose is the one who can look like anything, right?"

Sandbar's head snapped in Gallus' direction.

"W...what?!"

Gallus carried on in spite of his friend's reaction.

"Hey, I'm not judging. A pony and a Changeling? Progressive, friend, very progressive.”

He snickered.

“Seems pretty hot actually, one day you could be dating her, and then the next, boom, it could be like you're dating anyone! Yona, Twilight, Princess Luna, you name it!"

He slapped a claw down on his friend's shoulder.

"I approve, buddy!"

Sandbar stared at him, aghast.

"But...but...you said...!"

Gallus laughed.

"Yeah...probably should've told you...we Griffons don't really have much honour."

As one would expect after that, Sandbar responded to all of this by slamming his head down on their lunch table, groaning in discomfort all the way. Gallus, reaching over, patted him on the back, speaking in a reassuring tone.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I'm sure our friends would probably have these kinds of talks too."

Slowly, Sandbar glanced up to him, his expression one of incredulity.

"Somehow, Gallus...I doubt they'd be as relaxed about this kind of thing as you are. If you think Ocellus and the others would talk about us like that, you’re dreaming!"

---

Meanwhile, on the far side of the school, Yona, Smolder, Silverstream and Ocellus were all sitting around their own table, eating their own various meals, and there was just a general sense of calm and relaxation between them. Then, after a long silence, Silverstream glanced up to her fellow females, before speaking up in her usual cheerful way.

"Say...I'm curious."

The others looked to her.

"About what?" Ocellus asked.

Looking to her, Silverstream's smile widened.

"Which of our friends has the nicest tush? Sandbar or Gallus?"

The other three females glanced at one another for a bit, their expressions utterly nonchalant about that particular question, before looking back to their Hippogriff colleague.

"Sandbar, duh!" Smolder answered.

"Sandbar tush is best tush!" Yona added.

"Um...yeah, Sandbar," Ocellus finished with a blush.

Silverstream giggled.

"Yeah, figured as much. Glad we got that sorted out."

And back to their lunch they went.

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